1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to the proper foot placement in hitting a pitched baseball or softball, specifically the forward stride of the front foot and the pivot on the ball of the back foot.
2. Description of Prior Art
Baseball and softball coaches constantly attempt to verbally communicate the proper footwork to be employed in making solid contact with a pitched ball. Nevertheless, both the novice and the most advanced hitters have difficulty learning the proper footwork. Hitters continually stride away from home plate. They evert the front foot at far too great an angle, thus forcing the hips to rotate towards the pitcher prematurely. They fail to pivot on the rear foot, or if they do pivot, fail to lift the back heel to force the weight foreward towards the pitcher.
Verbal clues are good, but even when players are told accurately they have trouble implementing the advice. Visual aids are also good, but the player still must "feel" the sensation of correct footwork for himself before the proper habit pattern becomes ingrained.
Heretofore, practitioners have spent the bulk of their time using video-taped instruction. The physical involvement has been limited to placing a bat on the ground behind the hitter and telling him to avoid stepping on it as he strides. Or, coaches have drawn a line in the dirt and advised against overstepping the mark. Gillespie has invented a "Stride Tutor", consisting of a velcro band fastened to each ankle and connecting each foot via a chain to restrict stride length. Scannell has invented a "Hip Helper" which is strapped to the rear foot and rotates one-quarter turn, thereby facilitating hip rotation. Ward has simply constructed rectangular frames of wood to surround the feet of hitters. He built various sized frames to accomodate different sizes of players. These are but partial solutions which suffer the following disadvantages:
a. No invention prevents a hitter from stepping "in the bucket" or away from home plate. PA1 b. The first two inventions physically attach the back foot to the front foot or to a machine. This poses a definite safety hazard. PA1 c. Neither of the first two inventions keeps the front toe inverted. This is necessary to insure maximum power upon contact. The third invention allows none other than a 90 degree inversion of the front foot. This is too much inversion in the minds of many coaches. PA1 d. None of the inventions has a numerical guide to aid communication of proper stride length per individual hitter. PA1 e. None of these inventions provide directional information to indicate optimal back foot rotation for pitches at various locations. PA1 f. None of these inventions force the back heel to leave the ground, a necessity which forces the body weight to shift towards the pitch thereby lending power and consistench in making contact with a pitched ball. The third invention, a closed frame, even frustrates back foot rotation when the back foot is placed adjacent to the edge of the frame. PA1 a. To free both feet from a "tie-down" hindrance, a significant safety feature. PA1 b. To provide an upraised "lip" that is not so tall as to frustrate back foot rotation. As the heel is rotated, it must be raised, thereby insuring foreward weight shift. PA1 c. To provide for and to indicate the various degrees of back foot pivot to insure optimal hip rotation during the swing. PA1 d. To provide a scale to which an instructor can refer when communicating proper stride length to the hitter. PA1 e. To provide a stride regulator to prevent over-striding by the front foot. PA1 f. To provide a stride guide which prevents the lead foot from being moved away from home plate during the swing.